Right now I only own one, River Boat. It's a great player. Easily in the top two of my collection.

I've played Skill Pool, Heat Wave, Big Daddy, 3 Coins, 4 Roses. I think River Boat is better but I would take any of them.

It's kind of getting past the mid 60s but Hot Line is a great player and I'm still on the hunt for one of those.

Big thumbs up for River Boat.

One of the few Williams EMs I ever thought was a worthy alternative to Gottliebs of that era.

8-Ball was a good one.

Both Heat Wave and Teacher's Pet are fantastic. Teacher's Pet plays a bit more like a Gottlieb "sequence" game but with more toys that a similar era Gottlieb (drop targets, exit gate).

Played Riverboat and really liked it, same with 4 Roses. Played a Trade Winds that was in VERY poor shape but you could see it was good game. Desperately want to play King Pin.

I would put these up with the best Gottlieb's from 62-65.

Those early to mid 60s WMS EM pins are some of the best ever.
As you can see from my collection, there is a heavy representation of 60s WMS EMs.
There are very few duds.
I love most all the reverse wedgeheads (and have them all).
Trying to pick my top ten is pretty hard,
so in no particular order is my list:
Jungle
Space Ship
Teacher's Pet
Tradewinds
King Pin
Swing Time
Mardi Gras
Pretty Baby
Tom Tom
Merry Widow

Glen Peters:
Waiting for your top10 list
I know Big Daddy and Ten Spot will be on it.
Like I said very hard pick and choose, the best.
An easier task would be, to try and pick
ten WMS pins from that era to avoid.
And even then it might be hard to come up with ten bad games,
its not until the late 60s and 70s that Williams began to slip
in its games design and artwork.

1962 Williams King Pin.

Hands down the best Bowling Themed Pin IMO for Gameplay/Ruleset.

I'm sure Glen Peters will highly approve, as well as myself.

Also Heat Wave is pretty high up on my list.

Trade Winds looks like fun too. Sorry, can't come up with 10.

Ken

Would like to play King Pin, Big Daddy, Heatwave, Tradewinds and Teacher's Pet

I've tried to compose a response three times... and deleted it three times.

I guess, I just can't do it... kind of like trying to list your favorite kids.

Oops! Forgot Big Daddy. I almost bought the one o-din now owns. All around very good game.

Ken

Taking myself up on my challenge to list the 1960s WMS EM games to avoid ( or Disappointment List);
again very hard as there just are not that many dogs.
1961 Bobo : If you like clowns this might be OK,
Coolest thing about this game is the modern styling cabinet and
fact it is one of the last EMs to use bulb scoring.
1961 Caravelle : theme and art package not that great and PF kinda boring,
to be truthful never seen this game in person, so have never played it.
1961 Kismet : Actually like the theme and artwork, but this is just a copy of Magic Clock from 1960,
only reason I did not put Magic Clock on this disappointment list, is because Magic clock was first pin with moving swing target, and the last pin designed by Harry Mabs.
1962 Coquette : Again lame theme and uninspiring artwork.
1962 Valiant : OK theme, but starting to tire of the overuse of the swing target, this game has got 2.
1964 Whoopee : another one that i have never seen or played in person, basically a one shot game with the captive ball feature, kinda a precurser to Skylab.
Actually would like to own this game, just because i never have seen it.
1966 Casanova : overall kinda boring.
1968 DingDong/Smarty : UGH
Like i said, hard to even come up with 10 duds.

If that's the case, hoov... you can always check out the sixties Williams games that I have. They are listed on two different sites, Mr. Pinball and Pinball Owners. All titles were targeted... and then sought after.

In addition to that... 3 Coins, Skill Pool, Highways, Darts, Jungle, Beat the Clock and Skill Ball are all good titles too that I don't have but wouldn't mind owning if it weren't for trying to call my collection complete... and not just buying more and more and more games.

Let it be known though... if I had the money, I 'would' buy more and more and more!

But I'm just 'Willy and the Poor Boys' over here... and am flat out of room.

Matter of fact, if I won some super lotto or was just Mr. Megabucks, I would try to buy Richard Lawnhurst's collection. And outside of the obvious reason, would want to keep it all together... keep it in the states... and build or buy a proper building to house it in as a 'real' pinball museum for generations to come.

Agree with River Boat. A good player with a deadly target that will likely ricochet the ball straight down the middle.

This game holds special memories for me. It was my favorite game that I actively played in the arcade in 1965. Three games for a quarter and I remember working as a teenager making $1.40/hour then. Ate up my pay real quickly...

My two favorites are Lucky Strike and 8-Ball.

Glad you didn't! So far it is my favorite of all the ones I have played and own. Now that Trade Winds is setup right it plays as good as any with great geometry and a tricky flipper area.

It looked like Hoov was was enjoying Palooka while he was here. For an add a ball only game, it is a lot of fun and has very colorful artwork.

There are others I have never played, but Magic Clock and Pit Stop are a couple of great multiplayers from this era that I do own. There are others that look like great games that I have not come across, and some that don't look so good.

What don't you like about Ding Dong? I think it's a very good player. And it gets good ratings on IPDB.

Hi guys,Im looking for a Swinger or a Stardust.
Which one does the Williams EM crowd think is best?

I've played both a lot, like both, but I like Swinger a bit better. Then again, I'm not real fond of four player games. Both are multiplayers but I'd go with Swinger. Depends on condition of both, of course.

What are you guys kidding? 60s Williams games suck. I recommend you stay away from them altogether.

But seriously aside from a few that are in the know they often seem to get overlooked by the regular EM crowd. I usually come to their defense. Then immediately afterward start to wonder what I am doing. It's better to keep them under the radar.

Our hunting territories overlap! I was less worried when you were a Gottlieb only guy. Then you got into the AABs and I got a little nervous. Now the 60s Williams Hoov? If you start collecting early arcades I'm going to have to move North.

For something a bit later, I don't think Big Strike/Hot Line have been mentioned yet. I also really enjoyed Kickoff. That was a favorite of mine for a few years.

I know Rob Berk has a collection of all the mod cabinet games. He may have the reverse wedge heads too.
Tom Taylor has all the reverse wedge heads except Zig Zag I think. Zig Zag and Wing Ding were the only game from that series made as a replay and AAB counterpart.

I mentioned it. Great player, one that I'm searching for.

Riverboat, Big Daddy, Heat Wave are the 3 that I like so far.

I'm restoring a Wing Ding right now. I'll report back on game play when I get 'er up and playing.

That's it then. I'm hunting 60's Williams now...

(nah, just kidding.)

If you started I may as well quit looking altogether.

Guess i just do not like the artwork
and never grew fond of the examples that i played.
Again I think most any EM pin has some merit
and beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.
Even the games i listed that were on my disappointment list,
i have some respect and fondness for, but just not on my favs list.

Those were the guys that scored more than 300 pts.

Blame Harry. He must have been a good ole boy.

Oh i forgot about Kingpin. That would make a fourth one i like.

Gotta vote for King Pin on gameplay and Space Ship on artwork.

A plug for two others that I currently own: Vagabond and Friendship 7.

I know it's from 1967, but how can there be no mention of Magic City/Magic town, one of Williams best!!

Jungle is actually from 1960. If you are going back that far you need to add Nags. If we are expanding the parameters you should add Apollo/Blast Off to the list. 67 may be a better cut off. Shangri-La is 1967 as well.

And how about Skill Ball and Metro from 1961.

Among those that I own or owned I would vote for
Teachers Pet
Blast Off
Kickoff
Jungle
21

I've only had 11 and those are what I'd be comfortable enough to comment on. I have spent enough time on Hot Line to know it's good. Soccer was fun. Like Pinwiztom stated none of the 60s Williams games I've had or played were duds to me, just some were better than others. There are some I'd love to play and own that I suspect are great and would make the list. Trade Winds, Beat the Clock, Moulin Rouge and 8 Ball are a few of the titles I'm really interested in spending some time on.

Fair enough.

I can understand why the artwork might not be that great to someone. I've just got a soft spot for it because it was a game I played a ton as a kid, so of course I had to buy one. It's all restored and plays great.

I enjoyed Smarty when I played it. I'd own it if the right deal came along.